Who do ya got for a sleeper that we might trade?

[trwi7]

Where did you see this? Im just wondering

I linked on the last post of page 1.

[ELCABALLO45]

Where did you see this? Im just wondering

I linked on the last post of page 1.

 

Ah, thank you!

[MNBrew]

Is Braun that much of a dink? Isn't being obsessed about production still a good thing? Or maybe the better & more astute way to ask is this: What about good production is harmful for the team? The winning season (more recently) and the playoffs (by early August) haven't been a realistic consideration. There's no shame in personal landmarks once contention isn't a possibility IF they don't contradict or interfere with the team's and teammates' functioning. In other words, aside from the obvious daily goals of hustling and winning, what else is there to try for?

 

I'm not trying to be a Braun apologist. I was surprised by Witrado's take on Braun and what seems like a very personal stance against him. Can someone enlighten me since the Twin Cities doesn't care about the Brewers and I have a hard time finding out deep details otherwise? Thanks.

 

As another side note (thus the edit to the post), just hearing Witrado's slant toward one of the team's few really good players makes me wonder. The guy sounded more like a talk radio host or caller rather than a beat writer, whose work is predicated on dealing with these players professionally. Yes, you need to tell the truth and call it as you see it. But there's an element of journalistic professionalism that to me should trump somewhere in the process. Look, up here in the Twin Cities, the Mpls. beat writers still call a spade a spade. But they sound like professionals reporting on the topic, not nearly as jaded as Witrado came across sounding. I appreciate the candor. I want to learn the guy's insights based on his role covering the team. But I can do without what came across as an attitude.

[trwi7]

I feel the same way MNBrew. You could tell how much Fielder was pressing when he was tied with Cooper for the RBI record. Swinging at pitches he would never otherwise swing at. Those were his personal stats. Maybe Witrado wants to trade Braun and Fielder and get a whole teams' farm system?

[Invader3K]

I think Witrado might have some kind of vendetta against Braun, or was just throwing out that trade idea to get attention. I found his logic for the trade premise to be very flawed.

 

Why would they possibly trade him after the season he has had? It would kill off the fan base and demoralize the club. His contract is too affordable to trade at this point.

 

Edit: I e-mailed Tom Haudricourt, asking him about this, and he replied about two minutes later:

 

"I would be stunned if Ryan Braun is traded. All you have to do is look at performance vs. pay to realize what they have in him."

 

Yeah, I think I'll tend to put more stock in what Haudricourt has to say about this than Witrado at this point.

[twobrewers]

Haudricourt has the "tone" of the team much more so than Witrado.

 

I think more highly of several posters on this site than I do for Anthony Witrado.

[Invader3K]

Agreed. I will say I think Witrado's work has somewhat improved over the course of the season (earlier in the year his blog postings were miserable and have gotten much more thorough), but he comes off as fairly arrogant on his radio appearances and seems like he has some kind of axe to grind with certain players.

 

Trading Ryan Braun this off-season would be the equivalent of the proverbial "nuclear option." I would probably quit going to Brewers games for a season in protest, personally.

[endaround]

Its nearly impossible to find a scenario in which trading Braun makes sense. Say the Red Sox decide to let Bay go and target Braun. It would take most of their prospects and then I'm not sure it could happen because the Brewers might not have the 40-man space (Bard, Bucholz and Bowden all have 40 man spots for example).

[Invader3K]

Right. And in that instance the BoSox are probably better off simply re-signing Bay and keeping their good young players.

[ILuvDaBush]

Not to use a cross-sport comparison...okay...TO use a cross-sport comparison, the Brewers are about as apt to trade Braun as the Packers are to trade A-Rod.

 

Also a name to simply throw out there, but what about Jody Gerut? If Cameron does sign on for another year, he could probably be packaged with another piece to get a once-or-future prospect pitcher-TINSTAPP. The Rays and Athletics have some pitchers who would fall under that description.

[MNBrew]

. . . . If Cameron does sign on for another year, he could probably be packaged with another piece to get a once-or-future prospect pitcher-TINSTAPP. . .

Maybe I'm missing something obvious, but what's TINSTAPP?

[kramnoj]

There is no such thing as pitching prospects. Basically, they fail to become actual productive major leaguers at such a high rate that they can't be relied on. It is obvious hyperbole, but there is some sense to the idea.

[gobrew23]

I have only heard a couple of radio interviews with Witrado, but every single time Braun's name has come up he has ripped him, some subtle, some not so subtle. I have heard him say some things along the line of everytime Braun gets into a slump he brings up an injury, or bashing Braun for making the comment about the Brewers needing pitching help earlier in the year.

 

I don't want to sound like I'm defending Braun and hate Witrado, but I do find it annoying that Witrado always has a negative attitude about him and never really has any positive remarks to give regarding Braun.

[804Sox]

Its nearly impossible to find a scenario in which trading Braun makes sense. Say the Red Sox decide to let Bay go and target Braun. It would take most of their prospects and then I'm not sure it could happen because the Brewers might not have the 40-man space (Bard, Bucholz and Bowden all have 40 man spots for example).

There is no package that the Sox or any other organization could put together that would equal Braun's value with his current contract. None. He, Longoria, and Pujols are basically unobtainable.

[endaround]

If the Royals say Greinke for Braun its hard to say no and it makes some sense for both teams.

[Invader3K]

I don't want to sound like I'm defending Braun and hate Witrado, but I do find it annoying that Witrado always has a negative attitude about him and never really has any positive remarks to give regarding Braun.

Yeah...plus the fact that he is the only person out there pushing this "The team might trade Ryan Braun", angle, makes me think there is nothing to it and he simply has some sort of weird vendetta against him. Maybe Braun slighted him at a party or something.

 

Oh, and as far as Greinke, I think it's more likely that the Royals try to extend him again than trade him. That guy has become like a god in Kansas City.

[bklynbrewcrew]

No way Braun will get traded but if he was I would have to end my allegiance to this club. I was devastated enough when Molitor was allowed to leave as a free agent and couldnt handle Braun being dealt away.

[fleehaw]

What about Suppan? His salary would make him a unlikely candidate to be traded this year.

 

If the Brewers address their SP weakness and Suppan isn't their 5th best SP (and they have decent fill-ins in AAA), I could see him traded for another bloated contract. Maybe Suppan for Eric Byrnes. Arizona might need some pitching with only Haren & Scherzer (sp?) locks in the rotation. Byrnes and Gerut would be a very nice OF bench (albeit an expensive one) and the Brewers would save ~$2M. Both are FA in 2011 with Suppan needing a buyout, but Byrnes has a no-trade clause.

[RockCoCougars]

As much as I've dreamed about it, I've come to the stark realization that trading Suppan will be impossible. Too bad that baseball wasn't like the NBA, where 'expiring contracts' have some trade value, even for stiffs.

[bamberger]

Wasn't terribly upset when they let Molitor go to free agency. He also stayed healthy after that.

 

My opinion is that Molitor was a sacrificial lamb to prove Selig's point that he couldn't afford him. He could probably have, but made his case and stressed the issue of disparate finances in the majors.

 

Braun is under contract long term. He is affordable and they really couldn't get adequate value for him in a trade. For them to do that would be stupid

[TooLiveBrew]

If I had to pick a sleeper we'd deal, I'd go with Brett Lawrie. I'd hate to see that personally, but it seems the scouts love him, and he's delivered in terms of production thus far. Even Patrick notes in BF's latest Power 50 that there's "a distinct possibility [he'll] play for the big-league Brewers at some point in 2010."

 

He's the kind of bat that could make teams consider dealing guys they might otherwise view as too valuable. He's young, but very close to being MLB-ready relative to his age. As a general example, Seattle wouldn't want to deal Felix Hernandez with Hardy as the main piece, but I'm sure Jack Z. would have to at least stop to weigh things if Lawrie were included in the offer.

 

Again, I don't want to see Lawrie dealt, but imo he's a decent sleeper.

[pingman]

I stopped being a serious Brewers fan when Bud Lite dumped Molitor ....

[Invader3K]

You are right (bamberger) that Molitor was probably a sacrificial lamb of sorts to prove Selig's point about "small market woes". It was a giant middle finger to the fans of Milwaukee though...along with Yount and Ganter, he was the face of the franchise at that point. He went out the following season and was the World Series MVP with Toronto, which further rubbed salt in the wound. The Brewers blatantly low balled him, and it was very transparent to the fans that he was justified in leaving at that point. While Molitor was "just a DH" at that point, he was still a very potent hitter. I'm sorry, but you just don't let a player like that walk away for nothing if you want to be taken seriously as a franchise. The Brewers at that point did not, and that's also why Robin Yount decided to retire after the following year. Selig wanted to be non-competitive and run on the cheap so he could advance his vendetta against MLB and pursue a new stadium (which was ultimately a good thing, at least the latter part).

[endaround]

Yount was also "done." His fall off from MVP was steep.

[bklynbrewcrew]

I dont think this qualifies as a sleeper but I think Gamel is a lock to be traded now that Macha is back.